The other day, in one of my morning walks in the neighborhood I was
thinking about how competitive this world has become and the amount of
pressure one must face today in order to succeed in this life.

The Lord showed me then, at the end of a long walk, that there is a
better, much better way in fact, available to those who are waiting and
learning from Him at this time.

It is a new and fresh revelation to us, that is still being unveiled and
unfolded at this hour. Although spoken of and practiced at times both in
the past and in the present Church system, only now God's people are
beginning to fully grasp and apprehend the full meaning if it.

And as we do so, we will be able to come to a position to truly do great
exploits and wonders, in whatever fields we happen to be laboring at, in
an unprecedented and unparalleled way in fact.

This process, in turn, will completely change people's perception of
Christ and His people, so much so that we, as Christians, will one day and
in many ways, become the envy of this world, by the manner upon which we
will be succeeding at accomplishing results in our lives, despite all the
pressures that will be existing around us.

First, we must understand the process in effect today as we live in
general in a very competitive environment, which dictates that in order to
obtain success at what we do, we have to master a basic equation.

Such formula says that if one puts the right and concentrated EFFORT in
order to improve his PERFORMANCE he will then at some point and in due
time, be able to reap the resulting REWARDS and therefore be successful at
what he set out to do in the first place.

Most successful people today in their respective fields are those who have
mastered this process at varying degrees. Think of an athlete, for example
that in addition of his natural abilities, puts this process or equation
in motion.

There will be first a lot of concentrated and guided effort by training
and shaping his body. This will eventually improve his performance at
playing his game or exercising his athletic skill, which will at the end
improve his chances at conquering his reward when he finally aims for that
championship trophy, that gold medal, and that world record.

We are all conditioned in life to discover our natural talents and upon
doing so, to apply this equation to the best of our ability. Many of us
today live their whole lives and spend all of their energy in order to
master these three aspects. The reason we do it is that in our perception
and especially today in the western world, there are many "rewards"
waiting for us, most of them being of a material nature and
self-gratifying only.

While this seems to be the thing to do in order for one to advance and
excel, The Lord is revealing a new "equation", that is part of the Divine
system that brings order to everything around us. It is new only to us,
since it is one of God's attributes and therefore is eternal as such.

In this divine equation, there is a threefold process that takes place as
well. And, likewise, it is progressive in nature, so that the third step
is a culmination of the preceding two.

The Lord is revealing to us at this hour that true and everlasting success
in His eyes is obtained first by RESTING in Him.

Then, once we enter His rest, and all the pressure and commotion around us
are no more, we can then move towards truly OBEYING Him, as we learn to
listen and follow His gentle voice of command for our lives.

Finally, the result is the most gratifying one, since these two aspects in
our relationship with God will lead us to a gradual TRANSFORMATION, as we
will become more and more like Him.

This is a process that will gradually take us from and move us away from
the human perspective towards the divine one. It will shift our focus
completely so that it will not be about us anymore, not about our efforts.
It will not be what we do or do not do. It will not be about what we will
receive at the end as a result of our efforts.

Don't the Scriptures teach us that everything in this Universe was created
by and for Christ and that He holds everything together? (Colossians 1; 15
to 17 ). Therefore, How can we add our own effort to something that IS
complete already? We cannot.

Christ already and completely put all the necessary effort. He also
performed in the most excellent way and obtained the greatest of all
rewards, eternal life. And all of this was done not for Him but for us,
for our own benefit.

Therefore, all we can do is really rest in Him. And as we do so, he speaks
to us and we respond in obedience, being then transformed, more and more
into his likeness. Christ said that He would only do what the Father told
Him to do. We will learn, as we are transformed daily, to do the same
thing, becoming more and more like Him.

Sometimes we tend to think of rest as being non-productive. But, in fact,
even when our natural bodies are at rest, everything is "producing". The
heart, the brain, the cells, everything works, only at low stress level,
with no striving or strain.

In this hour the whole Church is being awakened to this truth as well. From
effort to rest, from performance to obedience, from being rewarded to
being transformed. May we grasp and embrace this change.